No shutdown delay in military pay, but many federal impacts

About half of the Defense Department’s civilian employees are being furloughed today, including those in Delaware – the result of the partial shutdown of the federal government that began at midnight.

The military’s 1.4 million active duty personnel remain on duty, and their paychecks will NOT be delayed – the result, Rick Maze of Military Times reports, of an unusually bipartisan bill signed into law by President Obama late Monday.

That’s not the case for furloughed civilians; they won’t be paid going forward, period. And they will not be paid retroactively for furloughed days unless Congress decides to do so – as it has done in the past. Employee benefits such as health and life insurance will continue. Those furloughed may be entitled to unemployment compensation.

Those who are deemed “essential” and are not being furloughed could still see their pay delayed.

Here’s a quick guide to the rest of the “shutdown” impacts, by service category, courtesy of the Associated Press:

VETERANS SERVICES

Most services offered through the Department of Veterans Affairs continue because lawmakers approve money one year in advance for the VA’s health programs. Veterans can still visit hospitals for inpatient care, get mental health counseling at vet centers or get prescriptions filled at VA health clinics. Operators will still staff the crisis hotline and claims workers will still process payments to cover disability and pension benefits. But those veterans appealing the denial of disability benefits to the Board of Veterans Appeals will have to wait longer for a decision because the board will not issue any decisions during a shutdown.

HOWEVER, VA told congressional officials Friday that all benefits payments will be disrupted if the shutdown continues for two or three weeks, according to the Washington Post. That would include disability claims and pension payments.

The State Department continue processing foreign applications for visas and U.S. applications for passports, since fees are collected to finance those services. Embassies and consulates overseas continue to provide services to American citizens.

BENEFIT PAYMENTS

Social Security and Medicare benefits keep coming, but there could be delays in processing new disability applications. Unemployment benefits still go out.

FEDERAL COURTS

Federal courts will continue operating normally for about 10 business days, roughly until the middle of October. If the shutdown continues, the judiciary would have to begin furloughs of employees whose work is not considered essential. But cases would continue to be heard.

MAIL

Deliveries continue as usual because the U.S. Postal Service receives no tax dollars for day-to-day operations. It relies on income from stamps and other postal fees to keep running.

RECREATION

All national parks are closed, as are the Smithsonian museums, including the National Zoo in Washington. Visitors using overnight campgrounds or other park facilities are being given 48 hours to make alternate arrangements and leave the park. Among the visitor centers being closed: the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island in New York, Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Alcatraz Island near San Francisco and the Washington Monument.

HEALTH

New patients are not being accepted into clinical research at the National Institutes of Health, but current patients continue to receive care. Medical research at the NIH will be disrupted and some studies will be delayed.

FOOD SAFETY

The Food and Drug Administration will handle high-risk recalls but suspend most routine safety inspections. Federal meat inspections expected to proceed as usual.

HEAD START

A small number of Head Start programs, about 20 out of 1,600 nationally, will feel an immediate impact. The federal Administration for Children and Families says grants that expired today will not be renewed. Over time, more programs will be affected.

FOOD ASSISTANCE

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC, could shut down. The program provides supplemental food, health care referrals and nutrition education for pregnant women, mothers and their children.

School lunches and breakfasts continue to be served, and food stamps, known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, continue to be distributed. But several smaller feeding programs will not have the money to operate.

TAXES

Americans still have to pay their taxes and file federal tax returns, but the Internal Revenue Service says it will suspend all audits. Got questions? Sorry, the IRS says taxpayer services, including toll-free help lines, are now shut down as well.

LOANS

Many low-to-moderate incomes borrowers and first-time homebuyers seeking government-backed mortgages could face delays during the shutdown. The Federal Housing Administration, which guarantees about 30 percent of home mortgages, won’t underwrite or approve any new loans during the shutdown. Action on government-backed loans to small businesses is suspended.

SCIENCE

NASA will continue to keep workers at Mission Control in Houston and elsewhere to support the International Space Station, where two Americans and four others are deployed. The National Weather Service continues forecasting weather and issuing warnings and the National Hurricane Center continues to track storms. The scientific work of the U.S. Geological Survey is halted.

HOMELAND SECURITY

The majority of the Department of Homeland Security’s employees are expected to stay on the job, including uniformed agents and officers at the country’s borders and ports of entry, members of the Coast Guard, Transportation Security Administration officers, Secret Service personnel and other law enforcement agents and officers. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services employees continue to process green card applications.

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About this Blog

It’s all things military in Delaware: Dover AFB, the Army and Air National Guard and all veterans' issues - particularly VA health care and employer compliance with the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act. Questions, concerns or story tips? Contact me at bmcmichael@delawareonline.com or 302-324-2812.

About the author

Bill McMichael came to The News Journal in 2012 after 12 years with Gannett’s Military Times newspaper family; he has covered the military, from the Pentagon to ships at sea, for more than two decades. He's written about the Navy’s Tailhook scandal; racial integration of the military; the punishment of a whistle-blowing Navy SEAL; naval operations at the outset of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; sex trafficking outside U.S. bases in South Korea; medical malpractice; and military law.